King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

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Samir M. Hamdan 

Associate Professor, Bioscience
Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering Division


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Affiliations

Education Profile

  • ​​​​​Ph.D. Chemistry, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, 2002
  • M.S. Chemistry, Western Michigan University, 1998
  • B.S. Chemistry, Yarmouk University, Jordan, 1995

Research Interests

Professor Hamdan's research interest is focused on the reconstitution, imaging and characterization of multi-protein nucleic acid binding machinaries at the single molecule level. Toward achieving this goal his lab uses an approach that combines conventional biochemical and biophysical tools with wide range of force and fluorescence single-molecule imaging techniques.

The ability to observe enzymatic activities in real time at the single molecule level has profoundly changed how biochemical reactions are studied.

By eliminating ensemble averaging, the distributions and fluctuations of molecular properties can be characterized, transient intermediates can be observed and identified, and catalytic mechanisms can be elucidated. Applying this multidisciplinary approach will provide a true molecular understanding of the mechanisms involved in replication, repair, and recombination.

It will also extend the technique of single-molecule analysis from a few proteins to large multi-protein complexes, often containing many enzymatic activities.

Selected Publications

  • ​​Iwata Y, Takahashi M, Fedoroff NV and Hamdan SM. Dissecting the Interactions of SERRATE with RNA and DICER-LIKE 1 in Arabidopsis microRNA Precursor Processing. Nucleic Acids Research. 41(19):9129-40, 2013.
  • Sobhy MA, Joudeh L, Huang X., Takahashi M and Hamdan SM. Sequential and Multistep Substrate Interrogation Provides the Scaffold for Specificity in Human Flap Endonuclease 1. Cell Reports. 3(6): 1785-94, 2013.
  • Jergic S, Horan NP, Elshenawy MM, Mason CE, Urathamakul T, Ozawa K, Robinson A, Goudsmits JM, Wang Y, Pan X, Beck JL, van Oijen AM, Huber T, Hamdan SM and Dixon NE. A Direct Proofreader-clamp Interaction Stabilizes the Pol III Replicase in the Polymerization Mode. EMBO J. 32(9):1322-33, 2013.
  • Sobhy MA, Elshenawy MM, Takahashi M, Whitman BH, Walter NG and Hamdan SM. Versatile Single-molecule Multi-color Excitation and Detection Fluorescence Setup for Studying Biomolecular Dynamics. Review of Scientific Instruments Journal. 82(11): 113702-13, 2011.
  • Hamdan SM, Loparo JJ, Takahashi M, Richardson CC, and van Oijen AM. Dynamics of DNA Replication Loops Reveal Temporal Control of Lagging-strand Synthesis. Nature. 457(7227): 336-9, 2009.